Food Movies: New Books Go Behind the Scenes

If you're something of a food and film buff, what better way than to enjoy the two than in the fun fusion presented by these two new insightful, yet polar opposite, books exploring food in modern cinema.

Fat Brad - The Cookbook

Brad Pitt fans grieving the news of the Brangelina split can take solace in Fat Brad, a fun new edible ode to the famous American actors on-screen eating habits.

Carefully re-creating Brad's iconic eating moments fans are treated to 17 recipes from nearly as many films from Mr & Mrs' Smith's Break Up and Make Up Smash to Tyler’s Seafood Bisque in Fight Club are all covered.

The supporting collection of photos add fitting context which just leaves it to your imagination how you present each scene to your guest so they're left in little doubt they are chowing down a Brad Pitt favourite.

Available here.

Feasting Our Eyes

by Laura Lindenfeld, Fabio Parasecoli

Those that take their food cinema more seriously will be right at home with "Feasting our Eyes" tackling "food as culture in iconic American films."

If you count Ratatouille amongst of your favourite food films, you might be surprised to learn from authors Laura Lindenfeld and Fabio Parasecoli, that this was not just a story about a rat proving their cooking ability against the odds, but a deeper reflection of "ideological pluralism."

Taking a second look at the status quo at Hollywood films and modern independent cinema from the 1990s, chapters range from "autonomy in the kitchen? Food Films and Postfeminism to When Weirdos Stir the Pot: Cooking Identity in Animated Movies (which is where the sociological Ratatouille analysis comes in).

"American food films shape our sense of who belongs, who has a voice, and who has opportunities in American society. They facilitate the virtual consumption of traditional notions of identity and citizenship, reworking and reinforcing ingrained ideas of power." The blurb reports, and amdist the current political climate, this is certainly food for thought.

Feasting Our Eyes: Food Films and Cultural Identity in the United States – November 29, 2016 by Laura Lindenfeld (Author), Fabio Parasecoli (Author)